We are requesting funds to help support the Bioiron 2011 Conference in Vancouver, Canada, scheduled for May 22 to May 26, 2011. We expect 450-500 participants of whom 2/3 will be young investigators. The funds will be used to subsidize conference participation by twenty young US investigators, post-doctoral fellows and students, selected on the basis of outstanding abstracts. The objective of this investment is to advance research on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of iron-related diseases in the US. The awardees will be selected by the Organizing Committee consisting of the leading scientists in the field of iron biology worldwide. Young investigators will be defined as scientists under 40 who have not acted as principal investigators on an RO1-type grant or its financial equivalent. The Bioiron conference is the main national and international forum for comprehensive presentation and discussion of cutting-edge advances in iron biology, iron-related diseases (iron overload disorders, iron-restrictive anemias, and others), and diagnostics and therapies related to these diseases. The conference has taken place every two years, rotating between continents and countries that have the most active research programs in iron biology and can provide suitable conference facilities. The organizers of Bioiron 2011 are committed to assuring broad participation by scientists from all over the world regardless of national origin, gender, race or other personal characteristics. The health- related aspects of iron biology will be the primary priority of the 2011 conference. NIH and NIDDK priorities are specifically taken into account in planning this conference. In addition to a broad overview of state-of-the-art iron pathobiology, the 2011 program will specifically highlight recent advances in our understanding of molecular iron sensing, intracellular iron transport, iron regulation including by hepcidin, ferroportin and microRNAs, pathogenesis of iron overload in iron-loading anemias, genetics of hereditary hemochromatosis and iron deficiency, localized disorders of iron homeostasis, and iron diagnostics and therapeutics. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We are requesting funds to help support the Bioiron 2011 Conference in Vancouver, Canada, scheduled for May 22 to May 26, 2011. The funds will be used to facilitate conference participation by twenty young US investigators, post-doctoral fellows and students, selected on the basis of outstanding abstracts. The expected public health impact of this investment is to advance research on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of iron- related diseases in the US.